Hello everyone..
Some of you might recollect an earlier thread of mine,where I mentioned how things have not been on track with respect to the 2004 Kia Optima I bought in May '07. The resale value dropped quite a bit,making it impossible to refinance the loan. Hence,I decided to trade the Kia in and get my wife something new!..
After a fair amount of research,I narrowed the search down to the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer.I had test-driven the GTS version,complete with the 650-watt Rockford Fosgate System,the paddle shifters et al. I loved every bit of the Lancer,and decided to wait for a while before making any decision.
So over the Christmas weekend,we ended up getting the ES version,since my wife wouldn't particularly use the paddle shifters on the GTS version. The only thing she wanted was a navigation system & the Bluetooth system on the new car,so it made it pretty easy to decide what to get.
The particular car we saw had the Rockford Fosgate system,and the 650 watt punch is something out of this world! There's a 10" subwoofer in the boot that gives the boost to all kinds of music. Also,the navigation package has a 30GB music server,allowing over 1200 songs to be stored on the system. Every time a CD is inserted in the player,the songs get recorded automatically. Its pretty cool feature,and with DVD compatibility,its a real good feature. With auxillay inputs for an I-Pod or PS2,long drives are something to look forward to.
The engine is the same on all three versions (DE,ES & GTS)- a 2.0L MIVEC engine that puts out 152bhp. Peppy,and a little on the noisy side when you get started,but begin cruising and its one silent engine.I needed to keep my eyes on the speedometer,to make sure I wasn't going too fast. I ended up in the 70-80mph range most of the time!
Did around 150 miles y'day,and the average gas mileage was around 31mpg! Thats much better than the Kia's 23-25mpg with its V6. Since my wife is going to be doing close to 70miles a day on her commute to work,the Lancer's mileage will come in handy.
Some of the other goodies on the car- 6 months of free Sirius Satellite radio, tire pressure monitoring system,an auto-programming system that tells you when to get the car serviced,and allowed the technician to enter all details on the MCS [Mitsubishi communication system]..
Overall,the Lancer has a lot of stuff on it for ~ $20k. Most of these features are found on luxury cars on the other side of $30k.
I haven't had a chance to take detailed pictures of the car. Hope to do so tomorrow. These are some of the ones taken yesterday..
More pics of the ICE/navigation and the engine bay later..
Here's wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year. May 2008 bring you good health & the best of times..
Enjoy!
Nitin